A notorious Mexican drug lord, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, also known as “El Mata Amigos,” has been released from a U.S. prison after serving over half of his 25-year sentence.
According to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons official, Cárdenas Guillén was handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday, paving the way for his deportation back to Mexico. The Biden administration had planned to transfer him to Mexico, a U.S. official revealed last week.
As the former leader of the Gulf cartel, Cárdenas Guillén, 57, earned a reputation for brutality and was responsible for creating the ruthless gang of hitmen known as the Zetas. His notoriety was cemented in 1999 when he orchestrated a brazen attack on a vehicle carrying two U.S. DEA agents and an informant in the border city of Matamoros.
During the incident, Cárdenas Guillén’s gunmen surrounded the vehicle and demanded that the agents hand over the informant, who would likely have been tortured and killed. However, the agents refused to back down, warning Cárdenas Guillén that killing DEA employees would be a grave mistake. Although he eventually called off his gunmen, Cárdenas Guillén reportedly sneered at the agents, saying “You gringos, this is my territory.”
Cárdenas Guillén was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2010 and ordered to forfeit tens of millions of dollars. However, it remains unclear why he was released before serving his full sentence. He was extradited to the U.S. in January 2007 and has been in custody ever since.
